Label for wet applications

ABSTRACT

A label for a bottle where the label is comprised of a laminate where an outer layer ( 3 ) is a material susceptible to losing opaqueness when made wet, and an inner layer ( 5 ) behind this first layer which is a material that is opaque, and such that it will maintain such opaqueness when wet.

TECHNICAL FIELDS

This invention relates to labels, to containers using labels and amethod of construction of a label particularly where such labels, or thecontainer are to be used in wet applications.

BACKGROUND ART

The problem to which this invention is directed relates to thedifficulty of labels, especially but not limited to those being used onbottles, after the label has become wet, losing a preferred appearance.

It is well recognised that the attractiveness of some products dependsupon the ongoing good appearance of labels present on the outside of acontainer containing the product.

Such a situation certainly applies to wine, and especially those winesthat might normally be subjected to moisture during cooling or beingkept cool, such as some white wines.

While it is known to use coated papers for the production of somelabels, many prefer the appearance of uncoated labels which have, forsome, a preferred appearance.

The problem with an uncoated paper surface is however, that where thisis subjected over a period to humidity or liquid, infusion of the liquidinto the paper will cause the appearance of the paper to change, and thepaper also might pucker.

Furthermore, when the label is exposed to moisture for some time, thelabel can become completely saturated and due to the inherentcomposition of paper, can become susceptible to damage as it becomesfragile. If the damage is significant, the label can be come an eyesore.Furthermore, as the label becomes saturated it then loses opacity, whichaffects the visual appearance of not only the label, making it difficultto read, but also detracts from the overall appearance of the bottleitself.

Under some conditions, the moisture can affect the adhesive holding thelabel to the bottle, so that the label will become detached from thebottle making identification of the contents troublesome.

Even though the label itself may not separate from the container towhich it is attached under such wet conditions, nonetheless it isconsidered highly disadvantageous for ongoing best appearance that sucha label simply does not look as good once it has been wet.

This has caused significant difficulty and there have been previousunsuccessful attempts to overcome this problem.

One way in which others have attempted to overcome this problem is bylaminating the back of uncoated paper with a clear plastic film.

Unfortunately, this did not appear to provide a substantive solution.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, the discovery of this invention has been that if anunder-laminate layer is provided which is opaque, being such that theopaqueness will not of itself be removed when the material is wet, thenthis can provide a way of solving the general problem.

When the under-layer is opaque, the colour can then be selected and theeffect of wetness can be controlled to maintain as desired, a selectedwet appearance as distinct from the dry appearance of a label.

In this specification, the terms under layer and inner layer are to beconsidered as interchangeable and define the layers that are between theouter layer and the bottle. [DA1]

In one form of this invention there is proposed a label for a bottlewhere the label is comprised of a laminate where an outer layer is amaterial susceptible to losing opaqueness when made wet, and an innerlayer behind this first layer which is a material that is opaque, andsuch that it will maintain such opaqueness when wet.

In preference the label has an outer material adhering to an inner [DA2]material, the inner material comprised of a material that is a film ofplastics material.

In preference the plastics material is white.

In a further form of the invention this can be said to reside in a labelfor a bottle which includes an upper layer of uncoated paper and anunder layer of plastics material which is opaque, the uncoated paperbeing secured to the under layer by a permanent adhesive.

In preference, the under layer material is chosen so as to provide astable laminate base for the uncoated paper upper-layer, and providesan, underneath surface appropriate for attachment.

In preference, the attachment is achieved with glue.

In preference, such a container is a glass bottle.

In a further form, the invention can be said to reside in thecombination of such a label when adhered to a container.

In preference, the container is a bottle, which is comprised oftranslucent glass.

In preference there is provided a label where the label is a laminatewhere an outermost layer is an uncoated paper, and a plastics film ispermanently adhered to a back of such outer layer further characterisedin that the plastics material is a biaxial polypropylene, and it has anopaqueness that is greater than 0.54 as measured by a Tobiasdensitometer.

In preference the biaxial orientated polypropylene is a materialmanufactured as a five layer extruded film with a cavitated inner core.

In the alternative, the plastics film is selected from any one of abiaxial orientated polypropylene, polyethylene, non-orientatedpolypropylene or PET.

In yet a further form of the invention, the label is applied directlyonto a sheet of extruded plastics film.

In preference, the outer most layer is joined to the under layer bybeing applied directly onto a sheet of extruded plastics material.

In preference, the extruded plastics film is then attached to a bottle.

In preference, the attachment is achieved with glue.

In a further form of the invention there is a label for a bottle wherethe label is a laminate where an outermost layer upon which there isprinted indicia is a material susceptible to losing opaqueness when madewet, and where there is a lower or more inner layer of the laminatewhich is an inner layer behind this first layer which is a material thatis opaque, and such that it will maintain substantial opaqueness whenwet.

In preference, the label is further characterized in that the lower orinner layer is in fact an innermost layer.

In preference, the lower or inner layer is a plastics material.

In preference, the label is further characterized in that the laminatehas each layer of the laminate joined to adjacent layers by waterinsoluble means or materials.

In preference, the water insoluble means are a fusion of plasticsmaterial with a respective adjacent layer.

In yet a further form of the invention there is a container having alabel secured to an outermost surface thereof where the label is aspreviously characterised, where an or the inner most layer of thelaminate is adhered directly onto an outer surface of the container withsubstantially water insoluble means or material, and where the outermost layer is positioned to be outermost with respect to the containerso a to display the printed indicia thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of this invention it will now be describedwith relation to a specific embodiment which will be described with theassistance of drawings wherein

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bottle to which a label is attachedand

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of further embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The challenge has been to provide a label that has an uncoated surfacethat provides for many, a preferred surface appearance and texture.

However, uncoated paper is inherently vulnerable to absorption of waterand the results of inundation either simply by condensation, orinundation of water are such that it creates then an appearance that isnot preferred.

This appearance includes a change of colour and the effect can besomewhat irregular.

Also, there is a problem that such wetting will cause the paper todifferentially swell or contract.

We firstly therefore adhered to the back of uncoated paper a plasticsmaterial film.

This then acted to hold the uncoated paper when they were inundatedtogether but the appearance still had the irregular change in colour,which looked much less desirable.

By having a plastic film, which could also be opaque adhered to the backof the uncoated paper, substantially reduced this difficulty.

Especially then if the colour of the film was white, this then providesthe dual benefits of both providing a secure holding together of theuncoated paper material as well as an appearance that, even when theuncoated paper is saturated, does not change its appearancesubstantially, and maintains therefore a significantly improvedappearance over what was the case hitherto.

Referring specifically to the drawings there is therefore a bottle 1 towhich is adhered a label 2. The label 2 is made as a laminate with anouter layer 3, which is an uncoated paper, and this is adhering througha glue 4 to an inner film 5 which is the plastics material. The glue 6may or may not be the same as glue 4.

In a further embodiment of the invention, and with reference to FIG. 3,the outer layer 3 is applied directly onto a sheet of extruded plasticsmaterial 5. This then results in the bonding of the label to theplastics material without the need for any adhesive. Such techniques arewell known to those skilled in the art. The resulting product can thenbe attached to a bottle 1, or other container, by way of a glue 6. Inone suitable technique, the glue 6 can be applied to the outer surfaceof the container 1 when the glue is wet and the glue can be allowed todry when in situ on the container. In the printing of labels, a stock istherefore provided where for instance the label is to be a self adhesivelabel, that has an uncoated upper layer and an effectively permanentadhesive which is then glued to an underlying plastics material filmwhich in this case is a biaxial orientated polypropylene.

In this case the underlying plastics material film layer 5 ismanufactured as a five layer extruded film with a cavitated inner corefor opacity and stiffness.

The colour of the film is white and it had a sufficient opaqueness sothat it has an optical density greater than 0.54 as measured by a Tobiasdensitometer.

The stock material is supplied when in a self-adhesive format on aglassine backing which is then supplied for application to containers.

It would be well understood by a person skilled in the trade that thebacking may differ according to certain applications or preferences andmay well include PET backing, KRAFT backing or other such backingwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

In the case of wine, this is therefore to glass bottles, and theadvantage of the invention is especially apparent for glass bottles,which have a lighter or fully transparent colouring and character.

The label according to this invention can then be applied in thetraditional way from the glassine backing onto bottles.

It is considered that any of a number of plastic materials can beselected for this application and these can be for instance polyethylenefilm, non-orientated polypropylene film, or PET film.

In order to have a sufficient opacity, in each case, such a film wouldbe either filled with an appropriate filler giving it a sufficientopacity for the purpose or it can be tinted again to be sufficient toprovide the effective purpose.

While an indication of opacity has been given, the degree of opacitythat is useful in any case can be established by very simple experimentand it would not be intended in the broadest sense that the degree ofopacity should be necessarily constrained to the specific referencegiven.

Throughout this specification the purpose has been to illustrate thisinvention and not to limit this.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A label of laminate construction,comprising: an outer layer for receiving printed indicia on an exposedsurface thereof; and an under layer attached to the outer layer,wherein: the outer layer is made of a material that has an opacity,wherein the opacity of the outer layer material reduces after the outerlayer is exposed to moisture or liquid, and the under layer is made of adifferent material that has an opacity, wherein the opacity of the underlayer material, after exposure of the under layer to moisture or liquid,is configured not to be affected in the same manner as the opacity ofthe outer layer material, wherein the under layer is a biaxial orientedpolypropylene plastic film; and, wherein the biaxial orientedpolypropylene plastic film under layer is a five layer extruded film. 2.The label as in claim 1, wherein the under layer is white.
 3. The labelas in claim 1, wherein the outer layer is secured to the under layer bya permanent adhesive.
 4. The label as in claim 1, wherein the underlayer is adapted to be a stable laminate base.
 5. The label as in claim4, wherein the under layer provides an innermost surface adapted tofacilitate adhesion to an outer surface of a container.
 6. The label asin claim 1, wherein the label is attached to the outer surface of acontainer by self-adhesive.
 7. The label as in claim 1, wherein thelabel is attached to the outer surface of a container by a glue, whichis applied to the label when the glue is wet and which is allowed to drywhen in situ on the container.
 8. The label as in claim 6, wherein thecontainer is a glass bottle.
 9. The label in accordance with claim 1,wherein the plastics material comprises at least one of the groupconsisting of biaxial polyethylene, non-orientated polypropylene andPET.
 10. The label as in claim 1, wherein the biaxial orientedpolypropylene plastic film under layer has a cavitated inner core. 11.The label as claim 2, wherein the outer layer is joined to the underlayer by being applied directly onto a sheet of extruded plasticsmaterial.
 12. The label as in claim 1, wherein the laminate has eachlayer of the laminate joined to adjacent layers by water insoluble meansor materials.
 13. The label as in claim 12, wherein the water insolublemeans are a fusion of plastics material with a respective adjacentlayer.
 14. The label as in claim 8, wherein the label is secured to anoutermost surface of the bottle, wherein the innermost layer of thelaminate is adhered directly onto an outermost surface of the bottlewith substantially water insoluble means or material, and wherein theouter layer has printed indicia thereon and is positioned to beoutermost with respect to the bottle so as to display the printedindicia thereon.
 15. The label as in claim 7, wherein the container is aglass bottle.
 16. The label as in claim 1, wherein the outermost layeris paper.